Jar



Feb. 5, 1935. BE K 1,989,906

JAR

Filed Dec. 3, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. S. BECK Feb. 5, 1935.

JAR

Filed Dec. 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 5, 1935 JAR Julius S. Beck, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to James A. Kammerdiner, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application December 3, 1929, Serial No. 411,262

' 11 Claims. (01.255-27) This invention relates to jars of the type employed in connection with the drilling and fishing operations while drilling a well. The jar can be used in connection with drilling by either the rotary or standard method.

An object of the invention is to generally improve the construction of jars of this character.

In drilling a well, for example a deep oil well, sticking or freezing of the drill bit in the hole, as it is termed in the art, is of frequent occurrence and considerable of the drillers skill is exercised in preventing freezing or, at least, in minimizing the seriousness of freezing of the drill bit in the hole. In rotary drilling it is customary for the driller to operate the drawworks so as to lift the drill bit off of the bottom of the hole at intervals, while the bit is rotating. A device frequently employed to overcome the freezing of the drill bit in the hole is, so-termed, drilling jars, a device that operates to deliver a series of blows to the drill bit so as to jar said drill bit loose, when it becomes frozen in the hole.

One form of drilling jar at present in use is so constructed that the drill stem must be turned in a reverse direction from that required for drilling in order to release the jars so that said jars can deliver the desired blow. The reverse rotation tends to produce unscrewing, or backing-off, as it is termed, of the joints of the drill stem and also tends to efiect what is generally known as twist-offs. Accordingly, at the time of delivering the blow, the drill bit is under no drilling torque, and one of the very important objects of this invention is to provide for delivering the blow, or a series of blows, while the drill stem is under the torsion produced by the drilling torque. It will be readily comprehended that the drill bit may be much more readily freed, when frozen, by jarring it at the same time that power is being applied to tend to rotate it. This invention effects this result.

Heretofore it has not been practical or possible to efiect jarring of the drill stem excepting at one point of application of the blow, but it is oft times desirable that the blow be delivered at one or more of several points of application. For example, it is quite common for the drill pipe itself to become frozen at some point between the drill bit and the surface of the earth and, in fact, the drill pipe may even become frozen within a hundred feet of the upper surface of the earth. Accordingly, one of the very important objects of this invention is to effect jarring of the drill pipe locally at a plurality of points distributed therealong and, furthermore, an object is to efiect the jarring of the drill pipe locallyat a plurality of points oneat a time in a single stroke of the drill pipe.

Furthermore, an object is to effect the jarring locally at a plurality of points one at a time in a single vertical movement of the drill pipe.

From the foregoing, it will be readily understood that I am enabled to effect jarring of the drill pipe at different levels in whatever order I choose, as, for example, at higher and higher levels, or at lower and lower levels, or at different levels without any particular order.

Another very important object of the invention is adjustability of the jar so that the hammerlike blow that it produces can be regulated in violence according to the operators knowledge or judgment as to the strength of the drill stem by which the jar is operated. It is well known that drill stems become weakened during the operation of drilling and that too severe a strain thereon would cause the drill stem to break. This breakage is avoided when this invention is employed because of the adjustability above mentioned.

The adjustability of the jar is such that the jar may be set into operation, according to the adjustment, under a variety of predetermined stresses so that when a number of jars are placed at intervals in the drill stem, it is possible to so adjust them as to predetermine the order in which the jars will function. This is very important, as it may be very desirable that the jar, say, at a higher level, be operated under a lower stress than a jar at a lower level.

Another important object is to facilitate circulation of the drilling fluid when the drill becomes frozen or stuck in the hole.

Other objects and advantages will appear in 'the subjoined detailed description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the in- 40 vention.

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a jar constructed in accordance with the provisions of this invention, a drill bit, a tool joint and a fragment of a drill stem being indicated in broken lines.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken vertical section of the jar shown in Fig. 1 with the parts in the same position as in said figure.-

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged horizontal sec- 'tions on the lines indicated by 33, 44, 5-5,

6-6 respectively, Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing some of the parts in different positions than in said figure.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Figs. 2 and '1 showing some of the parts in different positions than in said figures.

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on the line indicated by 9-9, Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section on the line indicated by 10-10, Fig. 2.

Fig. 11 is a brokenlongitudinal view, illustrating a drill stem or pipe provided with a plurality of jars of the type shown in Fig. 1, the drill bit also being shown connected with the lower end of the stem or pipe.

The jar to be described herein may be used in any relation where it is of advantage in the drilling of a well, whether the actual operation be drilling or be a fishing job. However, the invention is described herein as it would be applied,

more particularly, between 'a drill stem and a drill.

The jar is indicated in general by the character A and connected with the upper end thereof is a drill stem B. The lower end of the jar A is connected by a tool joint 0 to a drill bit indicated at D. The term drill bit" defines a bit operated by either the standard or rotary system of drilling and it also includes under-reamers.

The jar is constructed as follows: There are provided an outer tubular member 11, an inner tubular member 12, and an intermediate tubular member 13. The drilling fluid is adapted to pass downwardly through the bore 14 of the member 12, said drilling fluid entering said bore through the upper end of the member 12 from the drill stem B. The members 11, 12 and 13 are mounted for relative sliding on one another, there being a means provided between the outer and inner members to yieldingly hold them against slippage until the force exerted on the outer member 11 reaches a predetermined value.

This means is adjustable as will be made clear hereinafter. The outer member 11 is adapted to be raised and lowered by the drill stem B which is threaded to the upper end of said member 11.

The lower end of the inner member 12 is threaded into the tool joint C. Thus it becomes clear that the tool is lowered into the well and pulled therefrom and operated by the drill stem operating on the member 11, while the drill bit D is operated through the inner member 12.

In this instance, the'means for yieldingly preventing slippage between the members 11, 12 includes ball detents 15 which are carried in recesses 16 in the member 13.

In this instance, the member 11 is of sectional construction, the upper section indicated at 17 and the lower section at 18 and said sections are screwed together at 19. The lowersection 18 is provided with an internal conical seat 20 and the level of the detents 15 with respect to the conical seat 20 may be regulated by raising or lowering the member: 13 with respect to the member 11. This raising and lowering is accomplished by any suitable means and, in this instance, is effected by a nut 21 screwed onto the upper end of the member 13. The nut 21 may be screwed down sufliciently or the member 11 may be raised so that the lower end of the nut 21 will be engaged by a shoulder 22 on the inside of the member 11. The shoulder 22, in this instance, is formed by a bushing inserted between the upper end of the section 18 and an annular shoulder 23 in the section 17.

That portion 24 of the member 13 that extends below the level of the detents 15 has a'conical outer face for no particular reason excepting to produce the requisite amount of clearance between said portion 24 and the conical seat 20. The portion 24 slidably fits the periphery of the inner'member 12. In the positions of the parts shown in Fig. '1, the nut 21 rests on the shoulder 22, but in the positions of the parts in Fig. 2 the nut 21 is held in spaced relation to the shoulder 22 by reason of the lower end of the member 13 resting upon an external annular shoulder 25 on the inner member 12. The shoulder 25 is formed by the upper face of an annular projection, the lower face 26 of which constitutes a shoulder adapted, when the member 11 is raised to the position shown in Fig. 8, to be engaged by an internal annular shoulder 27 in said member 11.

When the member 11 is raised from the position shown in Fig. 7 to that shown in Fig. 8, it raises the intermediate member 13 which in turn raises the detents 15, consequently causing said detents 15 to frictionally engage an upwardly and outwardly slanting annular shoulder. 28 on the inner member 12.

In order toprevent the fluids of the well, especiallythe drilling fluid and detritus, from entering the bore of the member 11, upper and lower packing members 29, 29* are provided. The packing member 29 is held in place by a gland 30, and the packing member 29 is held in place by a gland 31.

The member 12 is provided below the shoulder 26 with a port or ports 32 to permit of the drilling fluid flowing out of the member 12 into the well hole, as an additional safeguard to insure circulation of the drilling fluid while the tool is being operated, even though the drill bit should be stuck and prevent circulation around said drill bit.

A means is provided to yieldingly hold or latch the nut 21 against rotation and, in this instance, said means includes a ball detent 33 urged outwardly by a coil spring 34 mounted in a recess 35 in the member 13. The detent 33 is adapted to selectively engage in notches or longitudinally extending grooves 36 in the inner face of the nut 21. If desired, in order that the operator may know what is the adjustment of the nut 21 on the member 13, the nut may be provided with indicia 3'7 which register, respectively, with the different grooves 36. By turning the nut, the indicia 3'7 may be caused to register with a mark 38 on the member 13.

The members 11, 12 are mounted to rotate synchronously, besides sliding on one another, so when the drilling is being done by the rotary method, the drill bit can be rotated upon the drill stem. To connect the two members for synchronous rotation, and yet permit sliding of one on the other, the member 12 is provided with a portion 39 of angular cross section, said portion, in this instance, being hexagonal as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

Slidably engaging the hexagonal portion 39 is a shoulder 40 which has its inner margin of hexagonal shape to fit the hexagonal portion 39. The packing 29 fits around the hexagonal portion 39.

The construction just described can be relied upon alone for turning the member 12 when the weight of the drill stem is not on the drill bit, as when the drill stem is being reciprocated by the driller to insure as much as possible against freezing of the drill bit in the hole, but it is advisable, when the drill bit is actually in contact with the bottom of the hole and the weight of the drill stem is on the drill bit to provide additional means for connecting the members 11, 12 for synchronous rotation and, in this instance, said means comprises tongues 41 of angular cross section extendin downwardly at the lower end of the section 8 and angular grooves 42 in the periphery o the box C at the upper end of said box. The tongues 41 and grooves 42 need only be comparatively short as it is not essential that they engage after the drill bit is relieved from he weight of Z the drill pipe when the drawwork is being ope ated to raise the member 11.

The co struction and operation of the invention described above will be readily understood, and the operation is as follows: Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the tool with the parts in the positions they occupy whe' the drilling bit D is resting on the bottom of the'hole that is being drilled, with the nut 21 adjusted sufliciently high on the member 13 to clear the shoulder 22.

Assuming that the drilling operation is interrupted by reason of the drill bit sticking or that it is desired, for some reason or other, to withdraw the drill bit from the well, the drawworks, not shown, will be operated to raise the drill stem B. If he desires, the driller may maintain the drill stem under torsion by setting the brakes of the drawworks so as to prevent reverse turning of the rotary table and thus prevent untwisting of the drill stem, or he may allow some reverse turning of the rotary table and then set the brakes so as to still maintain the drill stem under a certain degree of torsion. It is to be noted, however, that the operation of the jars is not dependent upon utilization of the torsion as said jars may be operated whether or not the stem is under torsion. As the drill stem rises, it causes upward movement of the member 18 from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 to the position illustrated in Fig. 7 This movement engages the shoulder 22 with the nut 21 so that as the upward movement progresses, the member 13 is elevated, thus causing the detents to engage the shoulder 28. The predetermined adjustment of the member 13 relative to the member 11 is such that the distance between the shoulder 28 and the conical seat is slightly less than the diameter of the detents 15. The drawworks is now operated, with the maximum power that the driller judges the drill stem or pipe can withstand without breaking of said stem, to hoist away on the member 11. The pull is transmitted from the member 11 through the detents 15 to the shoulder 28, thence through the member 12 and tool joint C to the drill bit D. Either the drilling bit will be pulled upwardly or, if it is stuck in the hole so tightly that the power applied is insufficient to dislodge it, the detents 15 will be forced upwardly past the shoulder 28, said detents gouging into said shoulder sufiiciently to permit of this.

The detents 15 are hardened steel balls while the shoulder 28 is of somewhat softer material. As soon as the detents 15 come free from the shoulder 28, the member 13 slides quickly upwardly, under the impulse of the lifting power, until the shoulder 27 of the member 11 engages the shoulder 26 of the member 12, thus producing a severe jar on the member 12, which jar is transmitted to the drill bit so as to dislodge said drill bit completely or, at least partially. If necessary or desirable, the jarring may be repeated. To repeat the jarring, the drawworks will be operated to lower the member 11, thus returning the parts to their former positions as illustrated in Fig. 2. The above described operations may then be repeated indefinitely causing the shoulders 26, 27

13 than the nuts 21 of the other jars.

to intermittently engage.

It is thus seen that an important advantage of the invention over some known drilling jars is that these jars may be tripped when the drill stem is not twisted, thus minimizing tendencies to unscrewing and/or twist-offs. Another important advantage is that the jar may be operated to produce a blow while the drill stem is under the drilling torque. This is a decided advantage as power applied tending to turn the bit at the same time'that power is applied tending to pull the bit upwardly when it is stuck, will more readily release the bit then if only an upwardly directed blow is delivered upon the drill stem.

It will be seen that as soon as the member 11 has been raised even a slight distance it becomes spaced from the upper end of the tool joint C so as to produce an annular channel 43 through which the drilling fluid can pass so as to reestablish the circulation that may have been interrupted by reason of packing of the. mud and detritus around the stationary drill bit when said drill bit becomes stuck in the hole.

After the member 11 has ascended a slight distance further, the outer ends of the ports 32 are uncovered so that the drilling fluid can discharge directly into the channel 39 to circulate or aid in circulating the drilling fluid.

If the drill pipe is sufficiently strong to withstand a greater strain than would be occasioned by adjustment of the member 13 to the position shown in Fig. 2, the pulling strain in order to free the detents 15 from the shoulder 28 may be increased, before the tool is lowered into the hole, by screwing the nut 21 upwardly on the member 13, thereby lowering the detents 15 relative to the conical seat 20. It will be seen that, when this is done, the distance across the detents 15 between the shoulder 28 and the conical seat 20 is decreased, in consequence of which a greater pull upwardly on the member 13 must be exerted in order to free the detents 15 from the shoulder 28. In other words, the detents 15 must gouge deeper into the shoulder 28 before said detents can escape upwardly past the shoulder 28.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the detents 15 and shoulder 28 constitute one form of means for frictionally holding the members 11, 12 against relative longitudinal movement, and that the nut 21 and shoulder 22 constitute one form of means for regulating the position of the detents 15 with respect to the conical seat 20 and, therefore, constitute one form of means for regulating the amount of friction that exists between the detents 15 and shoulder 23 at the time the power is being applied to force the detents 15 past said shoulder 28.

Figure 11 illustrates a drill stem equipped with a plurality of the jars hereinbefore described. These jars are set at various levels and are placed in the stem by being placed between adjacent sections of said stem. For example, in Fig. 11 the stem is provided with jars at upper, intermediate and lower levels. It will be readily understood, from what has been hereinbefore stated in regard to adjustment of the nut 21, that different jars may be variously adjusted by turning the nuts of said jars to different positions so that the shoulders 28 of the various jars will be spaced different distances from the conical seats 20. For example, if it be desired that the jar at the highest level operate first, the nut 21 thereof will be adjusted lower on the associated member Accordjustment just mentioned the detents 15 o! the upper jar will escape from the shoulder 28 of said 6 jar, thus delivering a blow at the higher level.

As soon as the shoulders 26 and 2'7 of the upper jar engage, sufilcient stress will come upon one of the other jars to operate it in like manner and,

thus, the jars may be caused to operate successively at higher and higher levels or lower and lower levels or, if desired, in any other order. The term drill stem employed herein defines either a rigid member such as, for example, pipe,

a flexible member such as, for example, a cable, the former being employed for rotary drilling and the latter for drilling with standard tools.

There is an old form of jar that is operated by reverse turning of the drill stem at the same time that an upward pull is exerted on the stem. This reverse turning is necessary to release one part from the other in the jar for producing a blow. This reverse turning often produces twistoffs, as the rotary table spins so rapidly as to produce a reverse twist in the stem while the stem is under the longitudinal strain produced by the drawworks. My jar is operated by an upward pull without rotating, thus avoiding twist-oils. Furthermore, with my construction any torsion or twist that may be in the stem may, if desired, be utilized as a power tending to turn the bit at the same time that the jar is operated.

After a well is in production, it is frequently necessary to clean it out and this requires pulling of the liner, an operation that can only be accomplished by employing a jar. Since the rotary table and kelly are taken awayfrom the well when the well is completed, said table and kelly must again be placed in position for the liner-pulling job, when employing that form of jar that requires rotation in order to deliver the blow. With my construction, because the jarring is produced without rotating, the rotary table and kelly are not required to be placed in position after the well has been completed.

When it becomes necessary to pull out the bit for sharpening, or other purposes, it is always necessary to set the kelly to one side and pull the drill stem with the drawworks. Sometimes the hole is contracted at some point or points, thus causing the drill stem to stick as it is being pulled. When this occurs, to jar it loose with the old type of jar, it is necessary to replace the kelly and back ofi part of the drill stem in order to insert the jar in the stem at a level below the rotary table. With my construction, when the drill stem sticks in coming out of the hole, the jar is inserted above the upper section of the drill stem since it is not necessary to rotate in order to cause operation of the jar to deliver a blow.

I claim:

1. A jar comprising two members mounted to rotate synchronously and slide one on the other, a means to move one of the members longitudinally and rotate it, the other member adapted for connection with a tool that is to be jarred, a shoulder and a ball detent connected with the respective members engageable by a relative longitudinal movement between said members, said ball detent being releasable from the shoulder by the application of a predetermined amount 0 power to the first mentioned means. a 2. A jar comprising two members mounted to rotate synchronously and slide oneon the other.

a means to move one of the members longitudinally and rotate it, the other member adapted for connection with a tool that is to be jarred, a shoulder and a ball detent connected with the respective members, one of the members being provided with a conical seat operating to thrust the ball detent into engagement with the shoulder upon relative longitudinal movement between the members, said ball detent being releasable from the shoulder by the application of a predetermined amount of power to the first mentioned means.

3. A jar comprising two members mounted to rotate synchronously and slide one on the other, a means to move one of the members longitudinally and rotate it, the other member adapted for connection with a tool that is to be jarred, a shoulder on one of the members, a detent, a member carrying the detent, a conical seat on the member not provided with said shoulder engageable with the detent on relative longitudinal a means'to move one of the members longitudinally and rotate it, the other member adapted for connection with a tool that is to be jarred, a shoulder on one of the members, a member provided with a recess, a ball detent in the recess, a conical seat on the member not provided with the shoulder engageable with the ball detent upon relative longitudinal movement between the members to thrust said ball detent into engagement with the shoulder, and a means to adjustably connect the recessed member with the member provided with the conical seat to efl'ect longitudinal adjustment of the recessed member relative to the conical seat.

5. In combination, a drill bit, a drill stem, members connected with the bit and stem respectively, a means connecting said members for relative longitudinal movement and synchronous rotation, a shoulder and a' ball detent connected with the respective members engageable by relative longitudinal movement between the said members, said ball detent being releasable from the shoulder by the application of a predetermined amount of power endwise to the drill stem.

6. A jar comprising two members mounted to rotate synchronously and slide one on the other, one of said members provided with a shoulder, and a means connected with the other member engageable with the shoulder and operable by the application of a predetermined amount of power to one of the members to gouge out the shoulder sufiiciently to permit the shoulder and said last mentioned means to pass one another.

'7. A jar comprising two members mounted to rotate synchronously and slide one on the other, one of said members provided with a shoulder, and a means connected with the other member engageable with the shoulder and operable by the application of a predetermined amount of power endwise to one of the members to gouge out the shoulder sufliciently to permit the shoulder and said last mentioned means to pass one another.

8. A jar comprising two members mounted to rotate synchronously and slide one on the other, a means to move one of the members longitudinally and rotate it, the other member adapted for connection with a tool that is to be jarred, a shoulder on one of the members, a detent, a member carrying the detent, and a conical seat on the member not provided with said shoulder engageable with the detent on relative longitudinal movement between the members to thrust said detent into engagement with the shoulder.

9. A jar comprising two members mounted to slide one on the other and to rotate synchronous- 1y, a means to move one of the members longitudinally and rotate it, the other member adapted for connection with a tool that is to be jarred, and a means holding said members against relative longitudinal movement, said means being releasable by the application of a predetermined amount of power to the first mentioned means, said other member provided with a bore for drilling fluid and with ports opening from the bore to the periphery of said other member, and means operated into position to open and close said ports by movement of the first mentioned member in opposite directions relative to the second mentioned member.

10. A jar for use in rotary drilling comprising two members telescopically assembled one within the other for relative longitudinal movement from a contracted position to an extended position, striking abutments formed on said members inter-engageable when said members are in extended position, one of said members having a longitudinally tapering surface facing the other member, a tapered surface sleeve between said two members and having means engaging the other of said members to yieldingly hold said members in contracted position but releasable upon the exertion of a predetermined longitudinal strain between said members, and means for longitudinally moving said sleeve relative to said tapered surface to vary the amount of strain required to release said means.

11. A jar for use in rotary drilling comprising an outer tubular member, an inner member having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said members being telescopically assembled within said outer member for longitudinal movement relative thereto from a contracted position to an extended position, fluid passages extending laterally through said inner member communicating with said bore, said fluid passages being positioned in said member to be closed when said members are in contracted position and open when said members are in extended position, striking abutments formed on said members in inter-engagement when said members are in extended position and. yielding means between said members normally holding said members in contracted position but releasable by the exertion of a predetermined longitudinal strain between said members.

JULIUS S. BECK. 

